Tag Archives: Depth Chart

As expected, Stan Bowman pulled the trigger on his first deal well-ahead of the February 27th trade deadline, sending defense prospect Brian Connelly to the Calgary Flames in exchange for veteran center Brendan Morrison.

“He’s a centerman and he’s got a long pedigree of being a good offensive performer,” Stan Bowman said speaking about Morrison on the team’s web site. “I think having that experience and that ability gives us a lot of options depending on where Joel wants to use him.”

Morrison, 36, has spent the past season and a half with the Flames. Chicago will be Morrison’s sixth NHL stop in five seasons. The 5-11 center was drafted out of the University of Michigan by the New Jersey Devils but would move on to spend parts of 8 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks (2000-08). Morrison was traded in March of 2000 to the Canucks for Alexander Mogilny.

The Blackhawks get a center who can set the table for skilled wingers while being defensively responsible. While falling down the Flames’ depth chart, Morrison was averaging 13 minutes per night and winning 50.3% of his face offs this season. Read more »

Concerns about Rockford’s lack of size and experience were partially answered last week with two new player acquisitions.

First, the IceHogs signed 30-year old defenseman Brian Fahey on August 31 to a minor league contract.

Fahey (6-1, 215) spent most of this past season in Hershey with the Washington Capitals organization. Fahey also got his first taste of the NHL with the Capitals in seven games over separate call ups, the final being last December.

A fourth round pick of the Avalanche in 2000, Fahey has since bounced around the minors for Colorado, the Thrashers, Rangers, Capitals and on his own. Fahey’s best seasons came on stacked Chicago Wolves’ teams (2006-08) and on Hersey in 2010-11. Between those stops, Fahey had a forgettable year in Hartford that led to him getting dealt back to Colorado for bad seed Nigel Williams. He got back on track that year in Cleveland with the Monsters.

Fahey is a fundamentally sound veteran defender who provides the IceHogs with a strong right-handed shot from the point. He’ll make a sound pass into the neutral area, one area in dire need of improvement from last season. He’ll step into Ivan Vishnevskiy’s vacated spot on Rockford’s power play and Fahey will see time on the team’s revamped penalty kill but largely by default of better options. Read more »